ASEAN AND EU JOIN HANDS

Realising the importance of science, technology, and innovation as key factors in driving economic growth and competitiveness of countries, Southeast Asia and Europe have forged a science and technology partnership this year. The year 2012 will be known as ‘Asean-EU Year of Science, Technology and Innovation’.

A series of activities and events will be launched this year that will develop the strategic partnership between the two groupings, increasing awareness of the importance of Asean-EU science collaboration.

European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Geoghegan-Quinn, who is responsible for driving research and innovation policy at the European level, said at a meeting with science journalists from Asean and EU in Singapore last week that alongside the many bilateral relations that EU member states have with countries from Southeast Asia in science and technology, the EU- Asean cooperation has become more important within a policy context. 

Asean and EU also have similar policy targets, for instance, in promoting renewable energies, protection of marine resources and in the development of information and communications technology. 

 

Public programme for research

The 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) launched in 2007, is the European Union’s major research and innovation funding instrument.

FP7 is investing in areas like agriculture, fisheries and food; health, nanotechnology, biotechnology, information and communication technologies, transport, energy, environment, security and climate change. 

Quinn said, the next package of calls for proposals this summer will release around €10 billion (Bt400 billion) of financing for cooperative research. 

“FP7 is fully open to researchers and companies from all over the world. Asean participation in FP7 is significant with 147 participations in grant agreements. This is already an increase compared to FP6 (121 participations) over a similar period of time. Traditional areas of EU-Asean cooperation are in the fields of the environment, ICT, health and food, agriculture, fisheries and biotechnologies,”said Quinn.

She added that two groups within the Asean region can be observed: Brunei, Cambodia, Laos and Burma have low participation rates, while Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore feature in higher participation rates. 

The thematic focus of Asean countries’ FP7 participation is consistent with their research strengths and co-publication patterns. For instance, Thailand is strong in the agriculture and biotechnologies sector. Malaysia is performing well in nanotechnology and agriculture research across the board. Vietnam, however, is among the top Asean performers in FP7 projects in the areas of energy, environment, health, agriculture and biotechnologies.

“This year we will have the last call for proposals in FP7 worth around €10 billion. FP7 will come to an end in 2013 and will be replaced by a new programme for European research and innovation funding called Horizon 2020, which begins in 2014,” said Quinn.

 

Horizon 2020

Quinn said that the Horizon 2020 programme will offer many new opportunities for Asean researchers to work with their EU counterparts. This cooperation could be even more intensive if more European researchers were able to work with their Asean counterparts under Asean funding programmes.

For research and innovation in particular, the Commission has proposed a total budget of €80 billion for Horizon 2020, which is structured around three key priorities – science, industrial leadership, and societal challenges.

She added that the first pillar of the Horizon 2020 programme is aimed at boosting excellence in Europe’s science base.  A proposed investment of more than €24 billion will enable the most talented scientists to carry out cutting edge research of the highest quality. 

The second pillar aims to boost industrial leadership, with actions to make Europe a more attractive place for businesses to invest in R&D and innovation. 

“We will invest nearly €18 billion under this pillar, including €13.7 billion in targeted support on key enabling and industrial technologies that underpin innovation across different industries and sectors. This includes ICT, nanotechnologies, advanced materials, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing processes and space,” said Quinn.

The third pillar focuses on tackling societal challenges, which will receive nearly €32 billion of funding. It is proposed to focus on six challenges:

n Health, demographic change and well-being; 

n Food security, sustainable agriculture, marine research and the bio-economy; 

n Secure, clean and efficient energy; 

n Smart, green and integrated transport; 

n Climate action, resource efficiency and raw materials; 

n Inclusive, innovative and secure societies.

 

“We will continue our commitment to bi-regional cooperation in addition to the more typical bilateral cooperation. It is ever more important to work strategically together across countries and regions to address common challenges, such as climate change, energy security and food security,” Quinn.

 

Thailand, the most active

Thailand has the highest activity of all Asean countries, followed by Indonesia and Vietnam,” said Quinn. 

The National Science and Technology Development Agency or NSTDA is national coordinator for FP7 for Thailand. 

NSTDA’s International Relations and Organisation Communications vice president Noppawan Tanpipat said that NSTDA is currently participating in seven FP7 projects. It has set up an “FP7 Support Office” and FP7 Info Day as “roadshows”, and match-making events. The agency also informs researchers on open calls for proposals; assists them in finding partners; and provides them basic financial and administrative advice for researchers.

“Our goal is to increase the level of Thai researcher participation in FP7-funded projects We are doing this by establishing a national support system to help Thai researchers interested in participating in FP7-funded projects,” said Noppawan.

She also added that Thailand is the second-largest economy in Southeast Asia after Indonesia. Under NSTDA, there are around 97 National R&D centres’ laboratories across four main centres – National Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (Biotec), National Metal and Materials Technology Centre (MTEC), National Electronics and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec), and National Nanotechnology Centre (Nanotec).

Thailand’s 2010 gross domestic product (GDP) was US$ 318.84 billion. The two largest contributors to GDP are industry (44.5 per cent) and services (44.1 per cent) followed with agriculture (11.4 per cent).

“Thailand is the world’s second-largest hard-disk drive exporter after China. It is also southeast Asia’s regional hub and suppliers for automobile,” said Noppawan.

 

30-year relationship 

Meanwhile, NSTDA president Thaweesak Koanantakool said that for more than 30 years the EU and Thailand have enjoyed bilateral relations and cross-continent cooperation. In the early years, the emphasis was on crop diversification and boosting farmers’ incomes. Today, the cooperation is in areas such as e-science, renewable energy and the development of novel drugs to combat a range of infectious diseases.  

Trade between the EU and Thailand is considerable, amounting to approximately €27 billion or Bt1.15 trillion in 2010. The EU is Thailand’s second-largest export market, after Asean. In 2010, exports from Thailand to the EU totaled about €17 billion.

A recent study by the European Commission entitled “The World in 2025: Rising Asia and Socio-Ecological Transition” predicts that by the year 2025, 61 per cent of the world population will be in Asia. That same year, the report states, the population of the European Union will only account for 6.5 per cent of the world’s population. 

The report predicts that by 2025, Asia will make up more than 30 per cent of world GDP, while the EU will be about 20 per cent. There will be a doubling of the world’s volume of trade with Asia, accounting for increasingly large share of exports to Europe.  And Asia will become the main destination for business R&D. 

“Globalisation and technology continue to throw up challenges to our relationship with the EU. Increasingly, how we harness science and technology to address these challenges will determine how much value-added we can further derive from the ties built up between the EU and this region over the past few decades,” said Thaweesak.

The sharing of knowledge and learning, trying out new and innovative ideas, and seeking new and better ways of doing things are the best ways to advance our relationship with Europe, he added.

 

EU-Singapore relations

Quinn said the EU is Singapore’s second-biggest trading partner, after Malaysia and ahead of China, while Singapore was the EU’s 12th-largest trading partner in 2010. As of 2009, EU and Singapore companies have invested more than €140 billion in each other’s economies over the years. 

The EU is Singapore’s biggest source of Foreign Direct Investment, representing 30 per cent of the total while the United States accounts for 11 per cent and Japan for 10.5 per cent.

For all these reasons, it would be shortsighted for Singapore – home to 5 million people – not to seek to strengthen research ties with the European Union, a bloc of 500 million. And apart from the immense scale of European research, more importantly, we are still the home of world-class ideas and world-class science, Quinn said.

“We lead the world in diverse areas such as aeronautics, pharmaceuticals, automotive manufacturing, energy and transport. Indeed, European know-how helps keep Singapore moving and working: Siemens of Germany has one of the largest European presences here. They built one-third of Singapore’s power plants, while their trains provide safe and reliable transport for thousands of commuters,” said Quinn.

The Singapore government has a strong commitment to R&D. The government has set a five-year science and technology plan called ‘Science, Technology and Enterprise Plan 2015’ for 2011-2015. 

According to Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, the island-state’s long-term aim is to be among the most research-intensive, innovative and entrepreneurial economies in the world in order to create high-value jobs and prosperity for Singaporeans. The government will allocate S$16.1 billion to support research, innovation and enterprise activities in the next five years.

The EU’s research and development programmes, through the EU’s research framework programmes since FP7 to Horizon 2020, is aimed at assisting researchers from Asean countries to be able to participate on an equal basis in research projects.